This winter I traveled to St. John’s on a couple of occasions to take engagement photos for my beautiful sister in law and her soon to be husband.  Although the weather was less than cooperative, very cold, windy and a little misty on one occasion, they turned out beautifully.  I haven’t put any of these on the blog before as they used some of the photos for their wedding invitations, and others for their custom created (par moi) guest signing book.  So, before I share some of the photos from the big day, I am going to start with a few from their engagement sessions.

Amy and Jeremy were married on June 19, 2010 at the Majestic on Duckworth St.  A lovely location with the reception to follow.  I am not certain how many hundred guests were actually there, but it was certainly a wedding to talk about with endless food and drinks served in a relaxed environment.  My sweet little princess was a beautiful flower girl, and accompanied the bridal party throughout the day just soaking up the celebrations and activities.  Because the reception was to begin imediately following the ceremony, Amy and Jeremy opted to have a “first look” where they met before hand for photos, but by first taking a few moments to themselves and to see each other for the first time on their big day.

Now that the big day is over we are all awaiting the arrival of our newest cousin/niece or newphew in the early fall.  Congratulations Amy and Jeremy.  We love you!

Wendy Hounsell: Dawn - you did an amazing job! And of course, you had two beautiful people to work with. I can't wait to see more :-)

julie c butler: Dawn .. these are AMAZING!!!! stunning ..

Pamela Meester: Fantastically gorgeous....what a handsome brother and beautiful sister in-law I have. Fabulous work once again Dawn. Can't wait to see the rest.

Summer has officially begun… school is our tomorrow and with that wedding season is in full swing.  I started out the summer wedding season with the wedding of Robyn and Jeff.  They had planned an outdoor wedding at the Grand Falls-Windsor Golf Course, however heavy rains the night before drenched the area that the ceremony was to take place.  It might have rained the night before, but the day of Robyn and Jeff’s wedding was FAN-tastic!  Sunny skies, nice temperatures, and a wild and crazy bridal party made for a great day.

The Golf Course is a great location for a wedding reception.  With it’s newly constructed building, gorgeous lighting and awesome food, it can’t be beat.  Now to mention how fun it is to drive around to gorgeous locations in the golf carts.

julie c butler: awesome photos .. and LOVE the sofa!!! ;-)

I am soooo excited to be introducing these gorgeous wedding albums for my 2011 brides.  I have been offering wedding albums for a couple of years really, mostly in the form of a coffee table book with magazine style pages.  And although the other albums have always been available if anyone inquired, I never spoke much of them as I didn’t have a sample, nor had I made a firm decision on which album company to go with.

Well, after reading many reviews, viewing a few different options, and finally ordering a few samples, I have found a company that I absolutely LOVE!  These albums come is a lovely box to keep them well protected, and when I opened the box and held it in my hands I actually squealed.  I am actually considering tracking down my wedding photographer to see if it is possible to purchase my old negatives (yes film was still the only medium when I get married) as converted digital files so that I can order one of these for myself.

These albums are included in most of my packages that I am offering to brides starting next summer.  They can also be purchased seperatly.  As for any wedding couples from 2010 and prior, you are certainly welcome to inquire about these albums if you are interested.

And thank you to Trina and Mark for allowing me to use your images in my sample album.  It has been almost a year since I asked, and I am just getting now receiving the book.

Trina and Mark: This book looks fantastic!!! I would love to get a peek at it :) We were just looking back at our beautiful wedding photos the other day! Can't believe that it has been a year already!

Just back from Jenna’s dance recital tonight, and realized it was due time that I added some more of the images from my mini dance sessions.  The recital was a great success and all of the dancers performed wonderfully.  I can not wait to watch it all over again tomorrow evening.

This will be the last mini session event in Grand Falls until the Fall.  I will be having a mini session event in Stephenville in July.  Exact date to be determined.

….. and my sweet little kindergarten kid will be completed her first year in school.  Jenna absolutely adores going to school, and often looks forward to holidays and weekends coming to an end so that she can go back to school.  Mornings are her favourite, as she doesn’t like having to wait until the afternoon (although her little brother always misses her when she has to go in the morning).

Still 5 Jenna has the sweetest smile, the girliest giggle and loves everything pink and girly.  She also has more pairs of shoes than her mother.  I have fully enjoyed watching my little princess grow, and she seems morn grown up everyday.  She was happy to come out with me the other evening, when our weather was so fine, to help me capture her sweetness and celebrate the end of her year in kindergarten.    Her willingness to participate was new to me, but I will welcome it that is for sure!

A few more from my dance mini sessions…. can’t say enough how much fun these were!

I also wanted to mention that I will be in Corner Brook next Saturday (May 29th) and have a couple of sessions still available.

It has been a busy Spring with lots of new and exciting projects.   One of my favourite has been the two Sundays I spent in Lesley Oake’s dance studio photographing some of her lovely little dancers.  My daughter is a student of hers and thoroughly enjoys her lessons.  She looks forward to each week and often talks fondly about Miss Lesley.  So when we were able to collaborate and offer mini dance sessions to her students I was thrilled.

This post is the first from the mini dance session series that I will be posting in the next few weeks (as time allows).  I have so many favourites from these two days that it is very difficult to choose which ones  to blog, and I will also be adding some favourites to my website, which has been neglected lately, but will hopefully not be neglected for much longer.

Lesley Oake’s students will be showcasing their talents on June 8th and as well on June 9th at the Gordon Pinsent Center for the Arts.  The first night has sold out (I didn’t even manage to get tickets for that show) and a second show was added (Thank you Lesley).  I am sure it will be a huge success.  

Just a quick little sneak peek for her momma, just in time for Mother’s Day.  Hope all the moms out there have a great day tomorrow, especially mine.

Jill: Thanks Dawn! Just beautiful, again, you've done an excellent job! Can't wait to see the rest...

Well I am back into wedding season for another year, and am looking forward to meeting all of my 2010 brides and grooms.  Meaghan and Matt’s wedding, known affectionately as M & M, was a great way to kick off 2010.   You know that a wedding reception that starts off with a shot of Newfoundland Screech after greeting the bride and groom is going to be a good time.

The bride’s dress was a beautiful shade of blue.

Meaghan and Matt had planned to get married in Our Lady of Mercy Church in Port aux Port, but due to furnace troubles had to change to another location.  However we were still able to enter the church for a few formals.

I am sure anyone from the West Coast would recognize the tasty treats above, and anyone from away would put Danny’s Bakery in Stephenville on their list of places to go while visiting home.    The bridal party was in for a treat this day as they made their visit to Danny’s for a Napoleon and an pic.

With desert in belly, the next stop was Domino’s Pizza House ( not to be confused with the national chain, but a local and VERY delicious pizza house across the street from Danny’s, and equally as popular).  It took every bit of will power I had to decline their offer to have a piece of pizza.

Then on to the reception….. M & M’s anyone?

The reception was lovely, complete with a little mock moose hunt to get the bride and groom to kiss, a perfectly choreographed first dance, and an invitation for all the guest to join the bridal party on the dance floor.  I love it when this happens, as it gets everyone in the mood to dance, AND it makes for a great photo opportunity.

Enjoy your sneak peek Matt and Meaghan!  And thank you for asking me to be a part of your special day.

Uh, I think it was a shot of screech….. not the bottle!